


Hook and his Tinkerbelle

by hunting_aboard_the_jolly_roger



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 08:38:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10382742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunting_aboard_the_jolly_roger/pseuds/hunting_aboard_the_jolly_roger
Summary: When the handsome boy next to her discovers he's in the wrong class, Emma can't help but feel that it must be fate.





	

Although she had already succeeded in completing one semester of university, Emma Swan was still nervous as she made her way into her first lecture for the second semester. It was a new lecture theatre – one she hadn’t been in during semester one - in the north wing of the smaller campus of the university. She scanned the crowd of students already seated, cursing herself for not getting there earlier on her first day, until she spotted her friends. They had claimed the far back row, taking up most of the seats. They waved for her to join them as she climbed the stairs.  
“Hey,” she said as she sat near the end of the row, moving the backpack that had been used to save the seat for her. Since all of her friends were already there, Emma had to sit in the second to last seat of the row, at the very top of the stairs.  
“Hey,” replied Ruby and Mary Margaret. “You have a good break?”  
“Yeah. You, guys? Did you get your grades back?”  
They made small talk for a few minutes before the lecturer began and silence fell across the theatre. Stragglers continued to make their way into the room; late comers who had to search for spare seats in the packed hall. Despite Emma’s hopes, the empty seat beside her didn’t remain that way long as a stranger settled in, a good ten minutes late.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Emma could see that he was wearing all black – black skinny jeans, black tee, and black leather jacket – but she couldn’t see his face without obviously turning.  
After another ten minutes, the lecturer put a video on the projector and Emma felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out, keeping it well hidden below her desk, and read the text.  
DON’T LOOK NOW. SUPER HOTTIE SITTING NEXT YOU!  
Emma peered around Mary Margaret to raise her eyes at Ruby. She hurriedly typed back.  
SNAP ME A PIC!  
A cheeky smile spread across the brunette’s face as she held her phone out – unconcerned if the lecturer caught her – and snapped an image of the three girls, perfectly capturing the stranger sitting at the end of the row. She sent the snap to Emma, who rolled her eyes at the caption.  
YOU’RE SUCH A SEX ADDICT, replied Emma, and Ruby simply smirked.  
Emma studied the image further, desperately keeping the screen angled away so that the boy wouldn’t notice what the girls were doing.  
She instantly saw that the person beside her could never be described as a boy. He had jet black hair with matching stubble spread across his chiselled jaw. The picture had perfectly captured the startling blue of his eyes and they were bluer than any Emma had ever seen in real life. He looked older about her age, maybe a few years older, but it was hard to tell. Her heart began to race, and she desperately wanted to see the stranger with her own eyes.  
Her opportunity came as she slipped her phone back in her pocket and felt him lean towards her. She nearly yelped out loud, thinking he had caught on to what the girls were doing and was calling her out on it. But, when he spoke, she calmed down, just a bit.  
“I’m sorry, lass, but what class is this?” He was English… or at least British of some sort.  
She glanced up and froze for a second, caught in his vibrant gaze. “Umm…” she shook her head and flipped to the cover of her notebook. “1211: Issues in Sociology,” she said, reading off her notes.  
“Oh, shit!” the boy said under his breath.  
“Wrong class?” Emma questioned. She was curious how it had taken him almost half an hour to realise it.  
“Aye, lass, it appears that way.” He frowned at his notebook and scratched the side of his head. Emma watched him, trying not to stare (and failing). He was probably – most likely – the most handsome person she had ever seen outside of the television set.  
“What class are you meant to be in?” she asked curiously, flicking her eyes to the projector screen to check that the video was still playing.  
He flipped to the timetable he had taped inside the cover of his book. “1221: XXXXXXXXXXXX”  
Emma leant closer, as inconspicuously as possible, and peered at his timetable. “Oh,” she whispered, “that’s where you’ve messed up.” She pointed at the page. “Your lecture isn’t until 2, not 12.”  
Running a hand through the front of his hair (causing it to stick up in random directions), the boy sighed. “Thank you, lass. Sorry to bother you.” He leant back in his chair, closing his eyes. Emma tried to say that it was no trouble, but she couldn’t find the words, distracted by the way that Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and his chest rose and fell as he breathed. Praying that he would keep his eyes shut, Emma surveyed the rest of him. She was incredibly pleased with what she saw – it had been a long time since she had broken up with her ex-boyfriend and she hadn’t met anyone who caught her fancy since – but something in particular caught her eye. She frowned, leaning forwards to get a better look, hoping with all hell that he would not open his eyes. Where his left hand should have been, a glitter of silver in the shape of a hook rested. It was screwed into what looked like a black, leather brace, which disappeared up his sleeve.  
Emma’s phone buzzed in her pocket, again, and she jerked back into her own seat. She could feel the blush creeping into her cheeks as she read the message, this time from Mary Margaret.  
STOP STARING.  
She glanced to her friends, and shrugged her shoulders, sure her face was as red as a cherry. “He’s hot,” she mouthed, and Ruby stifled a giggle, while Mary Margaret shook her head. It was at that point that the video finished and the lecturer began talking again.  
***  
Emma didn’t speak to the boy beside her again for the rest of the lecture. She could see him rolling his eyes as he nodded along to the speech. She had to constantly remind herself to focus on what was being said, instead of the impatience of the stranger beside her.  
She convinced herself that when the lecture ended, she would confront him. She kept rehearsing what she would say, but she couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound lame or pervy. She ended up scribbling her name and phone number on the corner of her page, prepared to tear it out and give to him before he left. But she wasn’t quick enough.  
As soon as the lecturer shut off her microphone, the seat beside her emptied, without even a second of pause for Emma to follow through with her plan. Sighing, she packed up her stuff and stood to leave, as well. When her seat snapped shut, she noticed that the seat next to hers was still down, held in place by a heavy, leather jacket. Emma glanced back at her friends and Ruby wiggled her eyebrows.  
“Well? Pick it up and go find him,” she said. Emma did what she was told, scooping up the jacket and skipping down the stairs as fast as she could with the amount of other students swarming to the exit.  
As she stumbled into the lobby, Emma glanced around for the tall, dark, and handsome stranger, gripping his jacket tightly in her arms. She caught sight of him on the far side of the room, headed in the direction of the library, but she couldn’t duck around the crowd very well. As she got closer, she called out to him.  
“Hey, Captain Hook!”  
She saw him freeze. He rubbed his right hand onto the silver hook that hung in place of his left, and he turned around, just as she wiggled her way through the final students to reach him.  
“You forgot your jacket,” she mumbled. Emma was sure she was blushing again, and she felt like an overeager puppy dog. His gaze scanned her up and down, and she began to regret not putting more effort into getting ready that morning. Her blonde hair was a mess of waves hanging down her back, she had minimal make-up on – and make-up was never her strong suit, so new it probably looked horrible – and her outfit was thrown together from the clothes she had rummaged through that had been tossed in a pile in the corner of her room. She stared at her feet as she held the leather out to the guy in front of her.  
“Captain Hook?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.  
Emma squirmed in her spot. The corridors were almost empty by that point, leaving the two of them standing alone. She briefly wondered where Ruby and Mary Margaret had disappeared to, before remembering that she was supposed to be a tutorial as well.  
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t know your name. Umm…” She paused for a moment, slinging her bag off her shoulder and tearing the corner of paper from her notebook. She looked up at him and a small smile spread across her lips. She held out the slip of paper to him. “Look, I’ve got to go, but if you ever want to hang out, give me a call.”  
He took the paper from her, a cocky grin spreading across his face. He skimmed the writing on the note, before glancing back at her. “Well, thank you. I’ll be seeing you around, Tinkerbelle.”  
Emma faltered for a second as she turned to leave. “It’s Emma,” she said.  
He chuckled. “If I’m Captain Hook, you’re Tinkerbelle. Now, I believe you’d better be getting to class, Tinkerbelle.”  
Before Emma had a chance to respond, he turned and left, strolling down the hallway towards the library.  
***  
Emma was more than ten minutes late for her tutorial, which didn’t look good. Her conversation with Captain Hook – whose real name she still didn’t know – had made her tardy enough, but then she got lost trying to find the classroom. When the teacher questioned her, she said she had ducked to the bathroom and gotten lost, which was at least half true. But she knew Ruby and Mary Margaret didn’t believe her for one second.  
Luckily for Emma, there was no time for socialising until the class ended. Unluckily for Emma, she was the designated driver for the day and she couldn’t abandon her friends since she had unintentionally made them bus it to university that morning when she overslept. That meant, half an hour trapped in the car with her friends – mainly Ruby – pestering her for information.  
“What’s his name?” Ruby asked.  
“I don’t know,” replied Emma, thankful that she had an excuse not to look at her friend.  
“What do you mean you don’t know? You talked to him, right? You said you gave him your number.”  
“Yeah,” Emma agreed. “But he didn’t actually tell me his name.”  
“You told him your name, though?”  
“Yes.” Ruby always wanted all the details, and she had a nasty habit of prying until she got what she wanted. She could be quite intense, and it wasn’t the best way to get Emma to talk. The blonde preferred to keep things, particularly emotion-based things, to herself and often had her walls built high.  
“So… why did you ask his name?”  
Emma sighed. “I was running late, okay? And besides, I don’t know if he was actually interested, anyway.”  
Mary Margaret poked her head through from the back seat of Emma’s VW Beetle. “Emma, you are absolutely amazing. How could he not be interested?”  
Emma rolled her eyes and pretended to focus on the road in front of her. Sure, she liked compliments, but they always made her feel uncomfortable, and she never knew what she was supposed to say back.  
She ignored Ruby’s next question, and the two friends formed their own conversation, letting Emma off the hook for the time being.  
As she pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine, the familiar ding of her phone sounded throughout the small car, and Ruby picked the iPhone up from the console.  
“Hey Tinkerbelle,” she read off the screen. “Got any plans for tonight? A mate’s having a b’day bash and I would much prefer to attend with your company than alone. Party starts at 8. I can pick you up just before. Captain Hook.”  
After attempting to wrestle the phone back, Emma gave up, listening to Ruby read the words and regretting ever giving her friend her passcode.  
“Ooh,” teased Ruby. “Tinkerbelle? I thought you said you told him your name.”  
“I did,” Emma argued. “It was a joke,” she said.  
“An inside joke, already? Look at you being all good with boys.” Ruby turned her gaze back to the phone screen and her fingers began tap dancing across the keyboard. Emma tried to grab the phone, but Ruby was too quick. The thief slipped out of her seat and made her way to the front door, reading as she typed. “Of course I would love that. My address is 205 Enchanted Drive, Storybrooke. I’ll be ready. Emma. Send.”  
“Oh, you suck!” shouted Emma, as Mary Margaret scrambled out of the car and Emma locked the doors. Ruby was already inside the house, and they found her rummaging through the fridge. Emma scooped her phone off the table and growled when she saw that Ruby had indeed sent the message. A reply had come through.  
P.S. IT IS A COSTUME PARTY – FAIRY TALE THEMED. ;) I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT YOU’LL WEAR.  
“Shit,” she grumbled, then grimaced under Mary Margaret’s glare. But seeing the look on her friend’s face, Mary Margaret slid over to see what was bothering Emma now. Ruby, feeling left out, shoved her way to the front to read the message, a giant smile spreading across her face.  
“Well,” the brunette said, “you know what we have to do now, right? We are going to find you a Tinkerbelle costume, Swan. I think I have a dress that will do; Mary Margaret, you find some shoes. Emma, you find some wings and a wand or something.” As soon as she was finished dictating her plan, Ruby dashed upstairs to search for the dress she thought would be perfect.  
Emma looked to Mary Margaret for support, but the girl simply shrugged. They both knew there was nothing that would stop Ruby once she set her mind on something, and they had to admit, she knew how to win over boys, something neither Emma nor Mary Margaret was very good at. Rather than fight, they did as they were told.

**Author's Note:**

> I am seriously so pleased with the reactions this has gotten. It may not be much, but this is only the second piece I have ever posted (the first being a longer more original beginning to a story).  
> I will be posting future chapters to this, but I can't guarantee regularity. I'll try to post as often as I can.  
> Thank you so much for reading and giving kudos (comments will mean even more), and if you want to volunteer to beta that would be amazing.  
> Xoxo, Ali.


End file.
